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Old 03-11-2013, 02:59 PM   #41
lip277
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I saw one yesterday too...
I had not seen one before a couple of weeks back.
Now I see them a couple of times a week.

Guess there are plenty of folks out there spending some serious coin on a car ( that I consider a toy). For each his/her own.
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Old 03-11-2013, 05:32 PM   #42
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Motoman's neighbor just took delivery Model S and he had a chance to drive it last night. He likes it...
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Old 03-11-2013, 11:24 PM   #43
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Just spoke with a local Model S owner and arranged a meet-up this weekend and we'll go for a drive.

Small world -- he's worked with my mom off and on for the last 30 years!
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Old 03-12-2013, 06:27 AM   #44
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Just spoke with a local Model S owner and arranged a meet-up this weekend and we'll go for a drive.

Small world -- he's worked with my mom off and on for the last 30 years!
That IS a small world.
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Old 03-16-2013, 02:36 PM   #45
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OK... So I get a chance to drive a Tesla tomorrow.

I have a bunch of owner/buyer perspective things to ask. How the ownership experience has been, what issues he's had with the car, how the trade-in process worked, a recommended electrician to install a 240V/50A outlet in the garage, etc.

Any other questions you guys suggest?
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Old 03-17-2013, 05:51 PM   #46
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Just got back from a nice drive in a Tesla. Let me just say WOW.

The owner was generous enough pick me up at my house and we then drove out to Bartlet Lake and back, which is almost 40 miles round trip. He drove for a couple miles and showed me a few things about the car. We then swapped and I drove the rest, spending about an hour with the car.

The instant torque is amazing. When he was driving, he floored it a couple times and I've never experienced being pushed back in my seat instantly like that. When I was driving, I mostly took it easy from a stop. But a couple times he insisted on having me punch it. Going from 60 to 85 is nearly instant.

He had it set so that the regen braking was on max. That mostly felt like engine breaking, but in a lower gear. I rarely had to use the brake pedal except when coming to a complete stop -- and you can very easily modulate speed with just the gas pedal (there is no transmission -- just a single fixed gear, and the motor can rev to 16,000 RPM).

The car is overall very quiet. The lack of engine noise was strange -- and there is just a subtle whine on strong acceleration, and a faint hint of tire/road noise.

When I first started driving, I didn't know how he had the car set. Steering felt great -- nice and firm (and the wheel is very nicely made -- thick with thumb rests, not unlike the E46 M3 wheel). Turns out he had the car in Sport, and while I was driving, he made a change -- and put the car in comfort mode, and the steering immediately became over boosted. I then switched it to Normal for the rest of the drive. Normal was very good also (very neutral, without a boosted feeling, but not overly firm). Ride was excellent -- it feels like a large sport sedan.

I didn't play too much with the screen while driving. But it looks usable probably wouldn't take too long to get used to. All the major functions are accessible via the steering wheel scroll wheels/buttons and a menu system on the instrument cluster.

I've been back home now for over 30 min and still am jittery from the adrenaline. All of you need to go test one of these.

For now perserveration continues. Need to sleep on this drive before making a decision...
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Old 03-17-2013, 05:58 PM   #47
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So what color are you getting?
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Old 03-17-2013, 06:46 PM   #48
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I just saw one a few aisles over from where I was parked at one of my kids schools and was trying to figure out what kind of car it was ... I was thinking it might be a Maserati and then as I got closer I saw no exhaust pipes and realized wow this must be the new Tesla S ...

That is one beautiful car ... I happen to see the same car this evening ... just a really great looking car.

I also have heard that it is a very nice tight community and that tesla owners offer each other their place to charge your car if you are on a long trip.

Sounds great !!
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Old 03-30-2013, 11:45 PM   #49
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Really? Awesome.
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Cool.
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Wow. No wait?
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I was guessing that was what you get after you sign up to start your wait.
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You wouldn't normally say that you traded in your car when you are just ordering [re: twitter post].
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Okay, I'll admit that I didn't click the Twitter link until just now. But I can't imagine he won't have to wait.

I guess we'll know soon enough.

It's pretty damn cool either way.
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Yes, there's a wait...

Placed the reservation today. Motoman embellished the tweet a bit. They are saying delivery in ~4 months, but it may be a bit earlier...

The keychain and "congratulations" folder are what you get if you place the order in person.

I've now driven 3 Teslas. Motoman's neighbor was kind enough to show me his 60kW this morning, and I took a test drive at one of the LA area stores this afternoon in a Performance 85kW. I drove a "regular" 85kW two weeks ago.

I'll post more in my perseveration thread when I get home tonight...
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Holy shit! Congrats! Wow!
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Heartily commend this.

And I will absolutely make sure I get in touch next time I'm in "it's not too far" distance of Phoenix.
OK... Referencing the above from the "last thing you bought thread" to continue here.

Even though I had a chance to drive a Tesla a couple weeks ago, I had already bought a ticket to LA to go get a test drive. That trip was this weekend -- I flew over Friday afternoon, went to a Nissan Z event hosted by Motoman last night (he interviewed the designer of the current Z in front of about 150 members of the LA and San Diego Z clubs...).

Today was test drive day. Motoman's neighbor took delivery of a 60kW version less than 2 weeks ago, so we stopped by and he took us for a ride and let me drive a couple miles. I'm glad I did -- I couldn't tell the difference between it and the 80kW I drove a couple weeks ago (Tesla maps the motor management slightly different in the 60kw, so even though it has the same motor and associated hardware, its just a bit slower 0-60...). He had a car similarly spec'd to what I'd spec -- same color and 19" wheels. I'm glad I got a chance to see those wheels, since all the ones in Tesla stores have the 21" wheels, and the 19s have a different design. I liked them.

We then went to one of the Tesla stores in LA where I had a 1:00pm reservation for a test drive. They were fully booked, so I'm glad I scheduled ahead of time. They took us out to the Tesla paddock in the mall garage, where there were 2 demonstrators and a couple of customer-owned cars being charged. The demonstrator was a Performance 85kW -- which has a 0-60 of 4.4 seconds (compared to 5.6 for the "regular" 85 and 5.9 for the 60). Before starting on the test, they give a walkthrough of the controls, then let you drive the entire time (not the "I have to drive this off the lot, then we'll let you drive" thing common with regular dealerships). The test loop took a good 15 minutes, including about 2 miles on the freeway. The P85 is incredibly fast -- scary, get me in trouble, fast. I'm glad I decided that the P85 is too expensive for me...

When the test was done, I went ahead and put the reservation in. I'd already made the decision and almost put the res in the other night. Doing it at the store really was no different than at home -- they have a couple iMacs in the store and we pulled up my My Tesla account and we went on and reserved it -- which I could have done at home too.

The next step will be to finalize the order. I can do that at any time, but production is not scheduled until after its finalized. I may just go ahead and finalize tomorrow, but still am thinking through whether to add an additional option (factory paint armor -- basically clear bra...).

Color will be white, with tan interior. Will include the panoramic roof, 60kW battery, supercharging option, and the tech package.
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Old 03-30-2013, 11:54 PM   #50
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Very cool.

I'd ad the armor, but I'm goofy like that. Be warned (as someone with it on a white car) that it will be pretty obvious, and it will appear yellow'ish over time.
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